My I-don’t-have-to-run-day

I’m unapologetically a child of the eighties, so when I stumbled upon the tweet below I couldn’t help but smile. Music fans of a certain age will immediately understand why (and why this post has the title it does).

Susanna Hoffs was the lead singer with all-girl group The Bangles, whose first big bit, ‘Manic Monday’ was penned by no less a songwriter than Prince (under the pseudonym ‘Christopher’). The chorus goes:

It’s just another manic Monday
I wish it were Sunday
Cos that’s my fun day
My I don’t have to run day
It’s just another manic Monday

Although it failed to reach number one in any major music market, the song peaked at number two in several countries, including both the UK and the US. In the UK it was kept off the top spot by Diana Ross’s ‘Chain Reaction’ (a song written and performed on by the Bee Gees, fact fans).

The band went on to have two US number ones: ‘Walk Like an Egyptian’ and ‘Eternal Flame’, the latter their sole UK chart-topper. It was subsequently covered by Atomic Kitten, who also took it to number one. (Pass the sick bag, please – it’s an awful version.)

Here’s the original Bangles version, in all its 1986 glory. Slip on your Ray-Bans and your shoulder pads and bask in nostalgia.

It’s definitely linked to which decade you grew up in. While I appreciate the 60s, I look back on the 70s as a big wasteland, in terms of both music and fashion. And don’t even get me started on the current decade. These kids toda, they have no idea what good music is … ;-)